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Monroe schools to use nearly $1 million DOJ grant for targeted support to English‑learner students
Summary
A three‑year Department of Justice grant will fund bilingual teachers, parent liaisons, telehealth counseling and an EL task force at Key West High and Horace O'Bryant to address trauma, chronic stress and cultural navigation for newly arrived English‑learner students.
The Monroe County School District outlined plans to use a Department of Justice grant of just under $1 million over three years to provide targeted services for recently arrived English‑learner students, district staff said.
Erin Williams, who presented the grant plan, said the district will concentrate services at Horace O'Bryant School and Key West High School because those two sites have the highest numbers of English‑learner students. "The bulk of the funding is going to be to hire two new teachers," Williams said, explaining the major line items in the application.
Planned grant activities include hiring bilingual teachers (district staff said they hope to hire teachers who speak Spanish and Haitian Creole), creating four intensive classes at each school, establishing an EL task force to monitor outcomes, hiring parent liaisons to bridge home‑school communication, and purchasing telehealth counseling slots. Williams said the grant includes roughly $50,000 a year for counseling services that will be delivered by licensed therapists who speak Spanish or Haitian Creole and who accept Medicaid or no insurance.
The district said the approach is three‑pronged: expand student orientation and preparation to build social and cultural capital; provide intensive professional learning to increase teacher efficacy with EL learners; and address trauma and chronic stress through expanded counseling resources. Williams said the program aims to improve academic performance, attendance and behavioral outcomes by reducing risk factors.
Board members asked operational questions including how the grant will adapt if federal temporary protected status changes and whether enrollment trends have slowed. Williams said new arrivals have slowed, prompting the district to shift from a center‑based model to school‑based classes and to remain flexible to legislative and federal changes. She said the district will monitor results and, if successful and if federal funding remains available at the end of the three‑year period, would consider reapplying.
The board did not take formal action on the grant during the workshop; staff said the DOJ award and related updates were removed from the pending items list for separate consideration.
